Ultimate Pokémon Battle Master
by Balin Lord of Moria
Summary: A reality show-like competition in which Ash, six of his friends, and five strangers duel each other in challenges and battles for the chance to have an audience with the Legendary Pokémon Mew, and win the title Ultimate Pokémon Battle Master.
1. Prologue

**A/N:** This competition has some things in common with reality shows like _Survivor, The Amazing Race,_ and _The Quest,_ as well as the Orange League season from the anime.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own _Pokémon_ or any of the canon characters from the games or anime. I only own my OCs.

* * *

 **Prologue**

 _The Pokémon world is well known for its young Trainers preparing their Pokémon pals for battles against other Pokémon in the hopes of becoming one of the best Trainers out there, as well as the Trainer who succeeds in "catching 'em all." Memorable Gym Battles have been fought all over the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and other regions in the dream of becoming the champion of each of those regions and winning the coveted trophies of each League. But one thing many Trainers don't ever get the chance to do is perhaps the greatest honor, to be so good at Pokémon Training that they may earn an audience with one of the rare, Legendary Pokémon. And on the side of the mighty Shamouti Island, far away from most known regions, some chosen lucky ones will get the chance of a lifetime._

One day, twelve Pokémon Trainers each receive a mysterious call over their Pokédex from an unknown person, calling them to compete in what is perhaps the greatest challenge a Pokémon Trainer can get involved in, the chance to become the Ultimate Battle Master, and an opportunity to have a personal audience with Mew, the ancestor of all the world's Pokémon.

Each Trainer beams at this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as he or she listens to the message. The message directs them to rendezvous at Shamouti Island in the Orange Archipelago, where their adventure would take place. One by one, they are picked up by a very rare Pokémon, indeed: the mighty Lugia, Master of the Sea, and transported to the island together.

* * *

 **Ritchie:** " _I've been collecting Pokémon for a long time now, and I can't wait to see what Shamouti Island has in store for me. I'm sure Sparky, Zippo, Happy, and my other buddies will prevail, and show the world just how great Ritchie, Pokémon Trainer, has become!"_

 **Paul:** _"When will people learn that the whole point of being a Pokémon Trainer is to be as strong as possible and prevail over your opponents with a combination of muscle and mind? If anyone deserves an audience with Mew, it's someone who works his Pokémon hard and makes them into real warriors. Like me!"_

 **Misty:** _"I'm gonna show that you don't have to be a Trainer of all types of Pokémon to be the ultimate winner! My Water Pokémon are the best out there, not to mention the cutest, except for Gyarados, of course, no offense meant to it. And I wanna make it clear that Misty Waterflower is the greatest Water-type Trainer of her time, even if it takes literally beating out all the other Pokémon!"_

 **May** ** _:_** _"Gimme a week or two on this island and some brave Pokémon, and I'll show you that Pokémon Coordinators can win a game like this, too. I'm so proud of my Blaziken, having come so far after being a clueless Torchic, and it'll barbecue any opposition it has to face any day!"_

 **Gary:** _"It feels good to be back in the swing of things! I've learned a lot more about Pokémon since the last time I was out in the field, and even my former rival, Ash, can't stand up to my highly trained Nidoking! Gary Oak is gonna rule this competition right from the start!"_

 **Ash:** _"I've got so many wonderful Pokémon since the very beginning, and all of 'em have made me proud, and none more than Pikachu. I think this contest will show that friendship always prevails in a battle of Pokémon against Pokémon. But I also think that it'll be loads of fun to see what other kinds of amazing Pokémon the other Trainers have, since not all of them are people I know!"_

 **Dawn:** _"I may have a lot of little Pokémon, but even the little guys need to have some room to shine, and everybody from my Piplup to my Pachirisu deserves to be put on a pedestal with the big guys! Cuteness can win a fight just as much as muscle and mind-over-matter can!"_

* * *

The Lugia silently drops off these seven friends, plus five strangers who will soon be introduced, on the shores of Shamouti Island. Then as it plunges back into the sea and the Trainers hold onto their hats to keep them from blowing away in the wake of Lugia's wind, a Pokémon suddenly appeared nearby from out of the dim evening light. It was an Ampharos.

"Hey! It's an Ampharos!" Ritchie exclaimed as they all noticed it.

"I wonder what it's doing here," asked a little girl Trainer whom Ash and his friends weren't familiar with.

The Ampharos shone its bright beacon of light on its head and beckoned to them, as it proceeded to walk off into the interior of the island.

"I think it wants us to follow it," Ash suggested.

They did so, walking along a path which was hard to see without the Ampharos's light. They walked about give-or-take two miles, which was a little tiring for the less experienced travelers, and then they suddenly found some things on the ground that looked strangely out of place. They looked down in Ampharos's light and saw twelve pieces of what looked like some kind of large horn or bugle. All the pieces looked like they were supposed to be put together, but Ampharos made some gestures and said, "Ampharos!" meaning that each Trainer had to take one piece. Not yet understanding, but knowing what they had to do, they picked up the pieces and kept them close.

After this, they continued on their way, until they found themselves in a clearing. In this clearing, they looked around until they saw another figure standing nearby. This one was a human man of indeterminate middle or old age, and he seemed both pleased and astounded to see them there.

"By Arceus!" he remarked, "You have come! I had feared that this time it was only going to be a ruse that twelve new Trainers were coming to compete to see the infallible Legendary Mew!"

"Why would it be a ruse, sir, if I may call you that?" asked Gary, bowing his head. "We're here, and we're real. And we're ready to see what Mew has in store for us."

"That's very good to hear," said the man, "But as of yet, none of you are _truly_ ready to talk to Mew or even see it yet. You need to earn it through the battles and challenges we have in store for you first. But as for my name, please call me Hayao. Everybody does."

"Hi, Hayao!" said Ash, feeling slightly funny with the way those two words sounded on his tongue. "So, we're doing challenges as well as battles here? Like I used to do when I competed in the Orange League?"

"Too true, son, too true," said Hayao, "Listen, we must get moving soon, but first I wish to sum up what this adventure you're all about to have is going to be exactly."

The Pokémon Trainers listened attentively.

"Once every century, the Legendary Pokémon Mew likes to come out of hiding and pronounce a blessing on one Trainer, one who is pure of heart, strong of body, and who uses his/her Pokémon like no other of their generation," explained Hayao. "But first, the Trainer must prove him/herself worthy of the audience by performing in a series of tests, trials, and battles pertaining to the current situation in the contest. All the Trainers would participate in a primary challenge each day at or outside the Mew Temple, Hayao's home and place of meditation, and later that night, they would go to the Redemption Altar, and the Trainers who fared worst in the previous challenge attempt to make up for it in the Redemption Challenge. The winner of that challenge is safe from elimination from the contest, and the other Trainers vote afterwards for which of the other losers should stay, and who should be eliminated.

"This process continues as the competition moves on, with Trainers being eliminated one by one, until we are left with just one, the Ultimate Battle Master."

Ash and the others looked at each other with apprehension and a hint of trepidation. They knew that there would be only one winner, but it still wasn't comforting that could happen to anybody at any time.

"When the winner is determined, he/she puts together the pieces of the Mew Lure, a mystical summoning device which will summon the presence of the world's oldest surviving Mew. Only the winner may use this Lure as a whole device. Whenever a Trainer is eliminated, they must place their piece of the Mew Lure into the altar, until the Ultimate Battle Master wins, and then he/she will use their piece and the eleven losers' pieces to construct the Mew Lure for use.

"Oh, one other thing. We are all well aware that Pokémon Trainers are all fond of Badges and Trophies. Each time a Trainer wins a primary challenge they will win a 'badge of honor' pertaining to a certain talent or virtue, and in addition to winning an audience with Mew, the Ultimate Battle Master will win a solid Gold Trophy to symbolize their victory, and he/she and their Pokémon will have their handprints or footprints placed in cement to set in stone their achievement forever."

The Trainers all sounded very excited to hear this. Already there were mutters and murmurs of who was going to win and who was going to beat whom.

Hayao smiled. "I am glad to hear that you are all excited. But now we must be on our way to the Temple, before any dangerous Pokémon come out to threaten us. Lead on, Ampharos!"

The rest of the journey was uneventful, except for a few glimpses of wild Pokémon flying or scampering around the land. And ultimately, they finally reached the Temple, which was quite beautiful, to say the least. Unlike the average Japanese temple, this one was made of solid steel, and bedazzled with numerous gems from beneath the earth. It had many pillars, and ornate statues of Mew, Lugia, and the Legendary Birds, Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres.

"Wow!" said an older girl who was one of the strangers, "That's great! I have a Moltres of my own!"

"You have a _Moltres?_ " exclaimed Ash, clearly astonished to hear this.

"Yup," she replied, "It's done me a world of good!"

"Your rooms are down this hall," said Hayao, "Most of you will be sharing rooms, especially in the early days of your being here. Feel free to stay with anyone you like. And over here is a meeting room where you may converse with each other during your spare time and eat meals. In the morning, my Battle Trainer, Sora-san, will drop by to begin your training in the competition. Good night!"

"Good night, Hayao!" they all said.

* * *

After Hayao left, Ash and his friends decided it was time they started to become acquainted with the five strangers whom they were also competing against.

"So then," said Ash, "You said you have a Moltres? How did you come upon such a rare Pokémon?"

"It was quite startling, actually," said the girl, "About five months ago, I was exploring a volcano during my journeys in Sinnoh, but I almost felt into it. I cried out for help, and suddenly, this Moltres comes out of nowhere, and rescues me from falling into the magma! Then I asked it if it wanted to come with me on my journey, and it accepted. It's been with me ever since. But my greatest Pokémon is maybe a rare, Shiny Spearow which was my first Pokémon!"

Ash and his Pikachu flinched at the mention of the name "Spearow." The girl looked at them and asked, "What? Did you have a bad experience with Spearow?"

"At the beginning of my Pokémon journey, we did," said Ash. "It's a little embarrassing remembering it now, though. Let's just say I didn't know how to train my first Pokémon, Pikachu, at the time, and we kinda angered a Spearow and its flock into chasing us."

Gary chuckled. Paul snorted. Ash glared at them.

"Aw, leave him alone, you two," said the girl, "Spearow aren't always friendly. But the one I have was injured and in pain when I met him as a little girl. I cared for him and raised him, and showed him the value of kindness, and he's been my best friend ever since!"

"Well, hey, let's see it, then!" suggested one of the strange boys.

The girl released it, and it indeed stood out with its yellow and pale green colors in place of the usual brown, red, and beige plumage. It nuzzled her face and squawked, "Spearow!"

Pikachu still didn't feel entirely comfortable, but Ash said, "Wow! That really is a unique-looking Pokémon! I hope it's good in battle."

"Oh, he's great, all right," said the girl. "It was my friendship with him that inspired me to specialize in Flying-type Pokémon, as well as Gym Leaders Falkner and Winona, my idols in the Pokémon Leagues."

"That should be a lot of fun!" said Ritchie. "By the way, what's your name?"

"My name is Krystal," the girl replied, "And all my Pokémon are powerful Flying types. I don't think it's a good idea to reveal all my Pokémon ahead of time, but in all honesty, I _do_ have one other Shiny Pokémon, believe it or not."

"Hmpf!" said Paul, "I find that hard to believe. How can anyone be lucky enough to catch _two_ Shiny Pokémon and one Legendary? And I think walking near the cone of a volcano is a really dumb thing to do, anyway. Anybody with common sense would know better than to go near one of those alone."

Dawn glowered at Paul. "That's a heartless thing to say!"

"Don't confuse emotion with truth," Paul said nonchalantly.

"You give me a pain, Paul!" shouted Dawn, really steaming up.

"Oh, buzz off, Paul," said Krystal calmly, "And calm down, Dawn. Both of those things can happen to anybody, even to him."

Paul turned his nose up. "I don't think so."

"Stop it, Paul!" said Ash, "We're here to get acquainted, not to go at each other's jugulars!"

"Whatever, Ash," said Paul dismissively.

Ritchie was looking at a really big kid with big muscles. "How about you? What kind of a Trainer are you?"

The boy flexed a muscle proudly. "The name's Devon," he said, "And I'm a Fighting-type specialist. I've been a Black Belt for years, and my Pokémon are some of the toughest and strongest out there."

"What's your favorite Pokémon?" Gary asked.

"Easy," Devon replied, "Primeape. He's like a whirling dervish in combat. I've never seen him fail to win a battle for me, and wow! He's a powerhouse if there ever was one! Of course, he's given a few people bloody noses in the more distant past, before I knew how to train him better, but I've got him under much better control now."

"Sounds like it was pretty stubborn once," remarked Misty, "Ash and I both know what it's like to have stubborn Pokémon. My Psyduck was a great big, headache-inducing embarrassment for so long, but I finally managed to get better control over him, and while he's still embarrassing sometimes, I wouldn't trade him for a million yen. Tell him about your Pikachu too, Ash! Remember what he used to be like?"

Ash looked like he wished Misty hadn't said that. So did Pikachu. "Come on, Misty! My Pokémon aren't stubborn!"

Misty gave him a knowing look.

"Oh, all right," said Ash, "In the beginning, Pikachu didn't want to obey me, because I didn't know the first thing about Pokémon Training. But he was nowhere near as stubborn as Misty's Psyduck. It didn't take _that_ long for Pikachu to warm up to me, and vice versa."

Devon chortled. "Sounds like you two have quite a history. Tell me, were you ever a couple?"

Misty loomed over Devon. "NO, WE WERE NEVER A COUPLE! WHERE DID YOU GET THAT IDEA!?" she roared.

Devon cringed for a second. "Okay, okay! I didn't mean to pull some strings. Take it easy!"

"Uh, can we get on with the introductions, before we have to get some sleep?" May asked quietly.

"Yes, let's get on with it," said Paul.

Misty sulked for a minute or so.

"How about you?" May asked another big kid. "You look pretty impressive, too."

He smirked. "Call me Drake. Everybody does. I enjoy training Dragon Pokémon. There's simply no more powerful Pokémon out there than Dragon types. Although I originally didn't think I'd be getting into Dragon type Training, because my first Pokémon was a virtually useless Magikarp. It couldn't do anything for me except Splash, and I didn't want to eat it, either, because I don't like seafood.

"But then, one day, it suddenly evolved into Gyarados, and it amazed me with its offensive attacks, like Whirlpool, Hydro Pump, Headbutt, and even Hyper Beam. I looked at its formidable appearance, too, and it was then that I knew I was destined to become a Dragon Pokémon Trainer. Since then, I've collected every non-Legendary Dragon type there is, from Dragonair to Dragonite and numerous others."

"Hey! I've got a Gyarados with some of the same awesome moves as yours!" exclaimed Misty. "Maybe sometime we should test our Gyarados against each other!"

"I'd be happy to oblige," said Drake. "Say, uh, Misty, are you a Pokémon specialist, like me, or do you train a variety of Pokémon types?"

"I train Water Pokémon," Misty replied, "And they're the greatest thing that ever happened to me in life. I love 'em!"

"Great to hear," said the little girl Trainer from before. "I hope some of them are cute, like my Pokémon."

"Well, in fact, except for Gyarados, _all_ of them are cute," said Misty, "I love cute Pokémon, which is part of the reason I also love the newly discovered Fairy-type. A Fairy-type Togepi was one of mine for a long time, and it made me so happy!"

The girl squealed in delight. Some of the other Trainers cringed at her squeal, particularly Gary and Paul.

"What about your Pokémon?" May asked. "You look a little young to be a Pokémon Trainer."

"That's because I'm a school kid," said the girl, "And I just recently turned ten, but I'm small for my age, and I've only been on my journey for a little while. My name's Christine. I'm in this 'cause I wanna show the world that there's always room for the little guys. All my Pokémon are little and inexperienced compared with yours, but I wanna prove that little can beat big any day."

"That's sweet," said Dawn, "Although we all have to fend for ourselves in this contest, I'd love to see you do good in it."

"Thanks, Dawn!" said Christine, "I really appreciate it!"

"And how about you?" said Ritchie, turning to the last stranger, "Who are you, and what kind of Pokémon do you have?"

"My name is Cole," the boy said. "I train Fire types for a living. And let me tell ya, they're the best the Pokémon world can offer! Magcargo, Ninetales, Magmar, you name it, I've got it! Heck, I've even got a Legendary Pokémon like Krystal does, and-oops! I guess I shouldn't have mentioned that."

"Aw, that's all right," said Krystal, "We won't bite, especially since Legendary Pokémon are hard to beat anyway. What is it?"

"Oh, okay," said Cole, "It's an Entei. It's a pretty aggressive one; I have to keep it on a tight leash, so to speak, because it doesn't treat everyone with respect, but it's great in battle. And it can incinerate the most dangerous of enemies or obstacles wherever it goes!"

"I hope it _is_ impressive," said Paul, "I'd like to try out my own strong Pokémon against that Entei."

"Yeah, me too," said Gary.

"Don't get too cocky, boys," said Cole smugly, "Entei is a real powerhouse of a Legendary Beast, and he's always hungry for an opponent to defeat."

"So am I," said Paul with a smirk.

"I have no doubt of that," muttered Dawn to herself.

"Well, then, we'll just have to see for ourselves who's best," said Cole with a wink.

"You're on," said Paul and Gary.

Hayao came in just then. "It is just about supper time, Trainers. The chefs will be bringing in some food soon, and after you've eaten, you may pick which rooms you would like to stay in. Just so you know, each time a Trainer is eliminated, he or she will no longer stay in these rooms; they'll be moved to a different part of the Temple so as to stay out of the way of the competition."

The Trainers nodded.

"Very well," said Hayao, "Enjoy your supper, and good night. Sora-san will see you in the morning before I will, by the way."

"Good night, Hayao," they said courteously.

* * *

And later, after a hearty meal, they settled together into six bedrooms, with beds for two Trainers each: Ritchie and Cole, Ash and Gary, Misty and Drake, Krystal and May, Dawn and Christine, and Paul and Devon. They settled down and fell asleep for the night, wondering what the first day of their competition had in store for them.


	2. Pokémon Dramatis Personae

**_Pokémon Dramatis Personae_**

 **Ash**

Pikachu  
Staraptor  
Charizard  
Totodile  
Torterra  
Heracross

 **Ritchie**

Sparky (Pikachu)  
Zippo (Charmeleon)  
Happy (Butterfree)  
Cruise (Pupitar)  
Rose (Taillow)  
Villy (Tentacool)

 **Misty**

Staryu  
Politoed  
Psyduck  
Corsola  
Marill  
Gyarados

 **Gary**

Blastoise  
Umbreon  
Electivire  
Nidoking  
Dodrio  
Scizor

 **May**

Blaziken  
Venusaur  
Beautifly  
Wartortle  
Skitty  
Glaceon

 **Dawn**

Piplup  
Buneary  
Pachirisu  
Quilava  
Mamoswine  
Togekiss

 **Paul**

Electivire  
Aggron  
Drapion  
Froslass  
Ninjask  
Gastrodon

 **Devon**

Primeape  
Hariyama  
Hitmonchan  
Poliwrath  
Monferno  
Breloom

 **Krystal**

Shiny Spearow  
Moltres  
Xatu  
Swellow  
Shiny Swanna  
Archen

 **Drake**

Gyarados  
Dragonite  
Salamence  
Kyurem  
Dragonair  
Garchomp

 **Cole**

Magcargo  
Entei  
Magmar  
Flareon  
Ninetales  
Talonflame

 **Christine**

Sunny (Magnemite)  
Abel (Poliwag)  
Tweety (Pidgey)  
Presto (Abra)  
Leah (Ledyba)  
Molly (Ponyta)


End file.
